A particularly important aspect of the conveyor art is that of transfering articles from one conveyor to another or to some other facility. In cases in which every article is to be transferred, the problems involved are somewhat different and less complicated than those in which only selected articles are to be transferred. Particularly in the latter case, existing devices have been lacking in the desired elimination of article damaging impact if the transfer device is to operate at high speeds. This has been particularly true of the ram type of transfer which advances to push the article laterally off the conveyor and retracts before the next article reaches the ram. Such devices are completely unacceptable for use with articles which are fragile, subject to scratching or other physical damage from the impact of the ram. This is true particularly in the case of baggage transfers.
Another problem has been the fact that as the demand for more efficient use of conveyor systems has increased, the speed of operation of the conveyors has been significantly increased. The result of this is that the time interval during which the transfer device must complete an operating cycle has been significantly reduced, necessitating higher speeds with the attendant increase in impact force. Also, as the speed of operation has increased the problem of overcoming inertia and momentum of the transfer device has become more significant and more difficult to deal with. Another factor significantly affecting the design and construction of transfer devices is the increasing cost of the space occupied by the devices. Over a period of time such as a year, each square foot of floor space unnecessarily occupied by such devices becomes an expensive luxury which many industries, particularly the airlines, cannot afford. It is the object of this invention to provide a solution to these problems.